Newest NASA endeavor: The JUNO launch (Since I am going to the launch, I thought I would share this information to all those that are interested!)
Juno’s principal goal is to understand the origin and evolution of Jupiter. Underneath its dense cloud cover, Jupiter safeguards secrets to the fundamental processes and conditions that governed our solar system during its formation. As our primary example of a giant planet, Jupiter can also provide critical knowledge for understanding the planetary systems being discovered around other stars. With its suite of science instruments, Juno will investigate the existence of a solid planetary core, map Jupiter's intense magnetic field, measure the amount of water and ammonia in the deep atmosphere, and observe the planet's auroras. Juno will let us take a giant step forward in our understanding of how giant planets form and the role these titans played in putting together the rest of the solar system.
The Juno mission is the second spacecraft designed under NASA's New Frontiers Program. The first was the Pluto New Horizons mission, launched in January 2006 and scheduled to reach Pluto's moon Charon in 2015. The program provides opportunities to carry out several medium-class missions identified as top priority objectives in the Decadal Solar System Exploration Survey, conducted by the Space Studies Board of the National Research Council in Washington."
Some interesting facts about the mission:
1) JUNO will take over 5 years to travel to Jupiter after an Earth flyby gravity assist in October of 2013 (Jupiter arrival in July 2016)
2) JUNO will orbit Jupiter for 1 year mapping the entire planet and flying closer to the surface than ever before measuring such things as gravity fields, atmospheric composition, magnetic and plasm fields, internal core structure and composition, etc.
3) JUNO is the first solar powered spacecraft to travel such large distances from the Sun
4) JUNO is expected to be the fastest moving object created by man before its all said and done.
Living vs. Non-Living http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/145916main_Astrobiology.Guide.pdf - This resource is a set of lesson plans/activities that tie earth/space science and biology together by posing the question,"Do aliens exist?" Students are then engaged in a series of activities that explore living vs non-living, conditions needed for survival, and microorganisms that currently exist in extreme conditions. I am planning to use these activities to pull life science into Washington County's first unit of earth/space science at the beginning of the school year.
Carbohydrates and Lipids
Respiration
Cells
Cell Craft - Lets you play as a cell. Cool interactive!
General Science Topics
Scale of the universe!
Newest NASA endeavor: The JUNO launch (Since I am going to the launch, I thought I would share this information to all those that are interested!)
Juno’s principal goal is to understand the origin and evolution of Jupiter. Underneath its dense cloud cover, Jupiter safeguards secrets to the fundamental processes and conditions that governed our solar system during its formation. As our primary example of a giant planet, Jupiter can also provide critical knowledge for understanding the planetary systems being discovered around other stars. With its suite of science instruments, Juno will investigate the existence of a solid planetary core, map Jupiter's intense magnetic field, measure the amount of water and ammonia in the deep atmosphere, and observe the planet's auroras. Juno will let us take a giant step forward in our understanding of how giant planets form and the role these titans played in putting together the rest of the solar system.
The Juno mission is the second spacecraft designed under NASA's New Frontiers Program. The first was the Pluto New Horizons mission, launched in January 2006 and scheduled to reach Pluto's moon Charon in 2015. The program provides opportunities to carry out several medium-class missions identified as top priority objectives in the Decadal Solar System Exploration Survey, conducted by the Space Studies Board of the National Research Council in Washington."
Some interesting facts about the mission:
1) JUNO will take over 5 years to travel to Jupiter after an Earth flyby gravity assist in October of 2013 (Jupiter arrival in July 2016)
2) JUNO will orbit Jupiter for 1 year mapping the entire planet and flying closer to the surface than ever before measuring such things as gravity fields, atmospheric composition, magnetic and plasm fields, internal core structure and composition, etc.
3) JUNO is the first solar powered spacecraft to travel such large distances from the Sun
4) JUNO is expected to be the fastest moving object created by man before its all said and done.
Living vs. Non-Living
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/145916main_Astrobiology.Guide.pdf - This resource is a set of lesson plans/activities that tie earth/space science and biology together by posing the question,"Do aliens exist?" Students are then engaged in a series of activities that explore living vs non-living, conditions needed for survival, and microorganisms that currently exist in extreme conditions. I am planning to use these activities to pull life science into Washington County's first unit of earth/space science at the beginning of the school year.
Carbohydrates and Lipids
Respiration
Cells
Osmosis Animation
Diffusion, Osmosis and Active Transport video